Things Change: Epilogue
by M.C. Castle
Summary: What I think happened after the last TT episode. Smooths out the transition between TT and my Elseworld series, the Xenothium Compact. BBTer, R&R please.


The transition from the Teen Titans episode "Things Change" to my first fic, Sister, Where Art Thou? was not very smooth. So I made this oneshot to smooth out the transition between the real Teen Titans and my Elseworld series. Enjoy my rendition of what I think happened after the end of "Things Change." It sets the stage for Sister, Where Art Thou? (Or at least, it tries to).

I don't own any characters except for the ones I make up.

**Things Change: Epilogue**

Beast Boy darted down the street toward the factory, thoughts of Terra clouding his head. _How could she not remember?_ he thought to himself. They had spent so much time together. Beast Boy wouldn't be forgetting her anytime soon, so how could she?

Beast Boy halted at the entrance to the factory. He entered cautiously, knowing that the enemy the Titans were currently facing was perhaps their most dangerous foe yet. If they wanted to have any chance of beating this thing, they'd need all five of their teammates.

After walking about three feet into the factory, Beast Boy saw Robin fly through the air. He landed on the ground next to him, out of breath. He looked pretty beat up. There were burns all over him. He struggled to get up, taking out his bo-staff. Then he noticed Beast Boy. He nodded at him. "About time you showed up. How'd it go with Terra?"

Beast Boy shook his head. "I don't wanna talk about it. Where's the thing we're supposed to be fighting?"

Robin pointed at a tired group of Titans locked deep in battle with the beast. It was quite a strange-looking creature, to say the least. It was muscle-bound, twice Beast Boy's size, and covered in flames. To top it all off, the creature wore an odd mask on its face.

Beast Boy whistled. "He looks tough."

Robin chuckled sarcastically as the beast threw Raven into one of the building's support beams. "No, you _think?_" He darted back into battle, throwing ice bombs at the flaming monstrosity. It froze where it stood, only to transform into a beast made of ice instead.

Beast Boy didn't hesitate to rush into battle. He was feeling many things now: sadness, confusion, loneliness. Anger was among these feelings as well, and this was a perfect opportunity to vent it. He turned into a giant gorilla and charged at the bulky ice beast. He did a downward karate chop, breaking off the beast's arm. He picked up the arm and began bashing the creature with it. Parts of its body broke off, melting on the factory floor next to the pot of molten liquid.

Just as Beast Boy was about to strike the creature again, the ice arm he was holding curled around his arm and dragged him to the ground. The beast bounded toward Beast Boy, only to be kicked away. Beast Boy ripped the coiled ice off his arm and threw it to the ground. Then, he turned into a bull and charged at the icy beast, ramming him into the cauldron of molten liquid.

As Beast Boy forced the beast against the cauldron, it began to melt. Cyborg, who was just getting up after being knocked out, was the first to see this happening. "Impossible…is he beating it?"

When the creature had completely melted, Beast Boy reverted to his original form and walked up to the pool. He looked at the strange mask that lay in it. He was about to pick it up when the puddle slithered away, climbing up the wall of the factory and exiting through the window.

Robin walked up to stand next to Beast Boy and sighed. "Looks like it got away again." He looked at the clock on his communicator. He turned back to the other Titans and said, "It's getting late. Let's go home and look for him tomorrow."

Beast Boy wasn't listening, however. He gazed toward the trail of water, thinking, _I bet I could follow that from the sky._

Just as the other Titans were turning to leave the factory, Beast Boy turned into an eagle and flew out the window in pursuit of the beast. "Beast Boy!" Robin shouted. He ran after the green eagle in an attempt to stop him, but once Beast Boy had flown out the window, he couldn't catch up.

Outside, Beast Boy scanned the ground, searching for the trail of water. He found it quickly and followed it into the forest near Jump City. As he was flying, thoughts from earlier in the day flooded his head. _She couldn't have possibly forgotten me, _he thought. _The memories are too real…how could they have just disappeared? _He flew ever further from the city. _Maybe Slade was right. Maybe she doesn't want to remember me. But why?_

Beast Boy landed on the ground when the trail ended. It was late at night, and he was in the forest near Jump City. "He must have changed into something else when he got here," Beast Boy said aloud. He glanced at one of the trees. It had a huge watery claw mark on it. "Bingo."

Beast Boy turned into a bloodhound and sniffed the tree, picking up the creature's scent. He walked into the forest, his nose to the ground, following the scent of the now-wooden monster. His thoughts clouded his head as he sniffed. _Why would she want to forget me? I don't understand…didn't our time together mean anything to her? _Beast Boy tried to remember if it was something he did in the past that drove Terra away. Then he had it.

_Of course. She thinks I betrayed her trust, but I really didn't do that at all. _After thinking this over for a while, he concluded, _No, that couldn't be it. She betrayed our trust later, so that basically makes it even._

Beast Boy soon came to a construction site, where several cranes and bulldozers were lying destroyed on the ground. Some of the workers were still here, but they were screaming and running away from the center of the site. This was where the beast stood. Beast Boy spotted a pack of bears near the struggle. _Nice, _he thought. _Maybe if I blend in with that pack of bears, I could get the jump on him._ He turned into a bear and headed over to the pack, readying himself to strike.

As soon as the construction workers had cleared out, the creature headed over to a mountain cave near the site. He hefted a large boulder from the entrance and threw it aside, walking inside the cave. Beast Boy, still in bear form, followed him, leaving his temporary camouflage behind. He looked inside the cave, seeing that it was very dark. If he went inside, he wouldn't be able to see anything, since there was no light left outside either. He decided to wait outside.

Once inside the cave, the beast lifted his hand high into the air. His hands and mask began to glow, and a dim blue light filled the cavern. With a source of light to see by, Beast Boy stepped into the cave as a whirlwind of blue dust came from the creature's hands.

Beast Boy decided that then was the best time to strike. He darted at the creature, attacking with his strong bear claws, using the blue light to keep an eye on its location. This knocked the beast over and sent pieces of wood flying across the cave. It immediately sprang back up to its feet. It turned to Beast Boy and threw boulders at him. Beast Boy simply turned into a bat and dodged them. He dropped back to the ground, turning into a gorilla. The monster had no escape now. Beast Boy was blocking the exit to the cave, and the cave itself was a one-room deal. Unless it found some loose dew hanging around the cave, the beast could do nothing but fight. And so he fought.

The creature flung chunks of wood at Beast Boy. Beast Boy weathered the chunks like they were toothpicks, advancing on the creature. When he got close enough, he threw a powerful uppercut into the creature's abdomen. This sent the beast hurtling into the ceiling. It recovered quickly and dug its claws into the stone, effectively transforming its body into stone. It dove down from the ceiling, clamping its hands together and slamming them down at Beast Boy. Beast Boy stopped the attack with his own hands, catching the beast's fists. He then slammed the beast against the wall and began pummeling it.

As Beast Boy broke huge portions of stone off the creature, Beast Boy's mind raced. _So why doesn't she want to remember me? It can't be because of the misunderstanding…so what is it? _Beast Boy thought and thought, but he couldn't come to a conclusion. He began to grow angry, both because of frustration and sadness. His punches gained force, and soon his fists were bleeding in this blind rage. He could see the creature in the blue light of the whirlwind still spinning in the center of the room. It was splattered with the blood from Beast Boy's fists, which glowed a sickly purple due to the light. The beast never got a chance to strike back, as Beast Boy was striking it consistently and without pause.

Suddenly, the blue light vanished. Beast Boy's momentary surprise allowed the creature to kick him away and escape from his rage. Beast Boy got up, only to be knocked down again by something falling from the ceiling. He couldn't quite identify what it was: it was a lot like a stalactite, except it lacked the sharp shape. When he jumped back up, he could hear more objects landing on the cave floor.

Beast Boy returned to his normal form and felt around in the dark. He couldn't see a thing without the blue light. It was only a matter of time before the beast found him. He had to think fast. He needed to change into an animal that can sense where the creature was through some sense besides sight. He also needed the animal to be fast, fast enough to dodge the monster's attacks.

Beast Boy soon had the perfect choice: a lemur. A nocturnal animal used to the dark; fast, and with a good sense of smell to boot. He transformed and sniffed the air, picking up the creature's scent. He picked it up just in time to dodge a strike from one of the creature's fists. He hopped around the room, dodging the monster's attacks and the mysterious falling objects. He kept this up for a few minutes, by which time he was quite fatigued. He couldn't keep this up. If he was going to make it out of here alive, he would have to finish this beast here and now.

Beast Boy, still in lemur form, ran at the beast. He jumped at it, clawing with his small lemur claws. The creature simply swatted Beast Boy aside. This damaged Beast Boy greatly. His lemur body was fragile, so the impact bruised him up bad and even broke a few bones. He slowly got up as the creature approached him again. _Ugh…not the best approach, _he thought.

Beast Boy was on his feet again, though this time he was seriously beat up. He was covered in bruises, his fists were bleeding, and two of his fingers, as well as his left leg, were broken. As the creature continually approached, Beast Boy formulated a plan. He began to hop toward the beast, gunning for one final attack effort. When he was one hop away from the beast, he pulled off one extra-long hop. Before the creature struck, he turned into a giant raptor and landed on the beast. Hebegan clawing furiously at it. He didn't seem to be doing any damage, though, just like before. This creature seemed unbeatable. But Beast Boy kept striking, because if he stopped, he was finished.

Suddenly, Beast Boy's claws dug under something on the creature's face and ripped it off. The beast stopped fighting back and froze. Then, he exploded in white light, blowing Beast Boy to the far end of the room. He reverted to original form, only to find himself slipping from consciousness. As his vision blackened, he looked once more toward the body of the cave, trying to discover what the falling objects had been. The white light was still permeating the room, so just before Beast Boy slipped into unconsciousness, he saw the objects for what they really were. They looked like…_people?_ How could that be?

Beast Boy had no time to think about this, as he had just drifted into cataleptic sleep. Looks like he was sleeping in a cave tonight.

**The next day…**

Beast Boy's consciousness returned early the next morning. He rubbed his head a bit, then tried getting up. He fell right over, forgetting that his left leg was broken. He transformed into a bird and flew off the ground, surveying the cave in the morning light from about three feet in the air..

What he saw stunned him. The figures were not actually people, but statues. And there, standing right in front of where he was flying, was the missing statue of Terra. This answered everything. That creature probably stole Terra's statue, as well as all these other ones. The only reason he must have been trashing Jump City was to find a secreted place to hide them. The factory probably would've done nicely, had the Titans not followed him there.

Suddenly, a wave of embarrassment came over Beast Boy. _So that girl really wasn't Terra,_ he thought as he turned back to normal and landed on his good leg. He sat down on a rock, holding his head in his hands. _I can't believe this…I stalked the wrong girl. I tried to make her remember things that never even happened to her. _He sighed. _Oh well. The good news is that she didn't forget. _He stared over to Terra's statue. _But I guess the bad news is still in effect, too…_

Just then, someone else entered the cave. "Beast Boy? You in there, lil' buddy?"

Beast Boy's ears perked up. _That's Cy's voice!_ "Yeah, I'm over here!"

The bulky figure of Cyborg stepped into Beast Boy's line of sight. "There you are!" he said. Then he shouted outside, "Hey guys, I found him!"

The Titans soon appeared in the cave. Starfire tackled Beast Boy and locked him in her signature bone-crushing hug. "Oh, how good it is to see you again, Beast Boy! Your leaving filled us all with the worry!" she said.

Beast Boy chuckled, but then felt pain in his broken bones. "Ah, ah, ah, Star, be careful," he said, squirming free from her hug. "I broke my leg and a few fingers."

Starfire backed away. "Oh," she said. "Please forgive me."

Beast Boy shook his head and smiled. "It's okay," he said. "Boy, am I glad to see you guys. I don't think I could have made it back to Titan's Tower myself."

Robin stepped forward and knelt down in front of Beast Boy. "What happened to you? Did you stop that thing?"

Beast Boy nodded. "Yup, I sure did."

Robin became ecstatic. "Really?" he asked. "How did you do it?"

Beast Boy cracked the knuckles on his good hand. "Primal instincts. He couldn't take the heat."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Not _too _conceited."

Beast Boy smirked and stuck his tongue out at Raven. "Hey, I have a right to brag. The four of you together couldn't beat it, yet _I_ beat it all alone." He looked down at his leg. "I just got beat up a little, that's all."

Cyborg helped Beast Boy onto his shoulder, giving him support. "Well, he beat you up pretty bad. You're gonna be in bed for a few weeks, if you're lucky. But hey, at least you stopped him."

Beast Boy nodded, then said, "And look what else I found." He pointed over to the statue of Terra.

Robin and Raven's eyes widened, Starfire gasped, and Cyborg said, "No way…"

Beast Boy sighed. "I know. I guess we should move her back, 'ey?"

Robin nodded. "Yeah, I guess…but Beast Boy, if Terra's here, then who was that girl at the school?"

Beast Boy shook his head. "Just some girl who looked like Terra, I guess."

Robin nodded again. "Okay, we'll return her to where she was before." He looked around the cave. "Say, how did all these statues get here, anyway?"

"That thing brought 'em," said Beast Boy. "He stole them all, then came here to hide them, I guess. That's why Terra's was gone."

Robin looked around at all the statues. "I wonder why he'd want these…" Then he shrugged. "Oh well. We'll return Terra and bring the rest of these back to Titan's Tower until we can find their owners."

"Sure thing," said Beast Boy. With Cyborg's support, Beast Boy hopped out of the cave, the over Titans following. He settled into the backseat of the waiting T-Car with Raven and Starfire while Robin got in the passenger seat. Cyborg clicked a remote on his arm. A storage car sprouted from the back of the T-Car. Cyborg then began loading the statues into the storage car. Once he was finished, he got behind the wheel and started up the engine.

"Let's go on home," he said, driving back onto the roads of Jump City.

It turns out, however, that Cyborg forgot one statue, tucked away in a dark corner of the cave that no sunlight reached. It was one of a girl, made from white stone. The girl looked no older than Terra, and she wore quite the same expression. However, this girl had black hair, and she was clutching a strange-looking white jewel.

As the Titans left, a familiar figure approached the cave. "My my, it would seem the Teen Titans left something behind." Slade stepped into the cave, carrying a lantern emblazoned with his trademark.

He approached the statue, saying, "Hello, Jessica. It's been a while. I was wondering if you could do me a little favor. You wouldn't mind, would you?" Slade chuckled menacingly. "Oh, how silly of me. _You don't have a choice._"

**Meanwhile, at the Jump City High School…**

"Don't play games with me, Terra," said Terrane to the blonde-haired girl in front of him. "You can't possibly have forgotten me. It's me, your brother. Remember?"

The girl shook her head. "No, I don't. Sorry."

Terrane sighed and shook his head. "Fine. I guess I've got the wrong girl. Sorry for wasting your time."

As Terrane walked away, he heard the girl he thought was Terra mumble something like, "Why is everyone calling me Terra these days?"

Terrane exited the high school, thinking. _Okay, if that's not Terra, then she must still be out there._ He walked down the street to his apartment. _I guess I'll have to get his help after all._ He entered the apartment, taking off his shoes and sitting down at his computer. He'd gotten a great new lead on this Slade guy he'd been looking for. It was only a matter of time before he found out where he was hiding…

Back at the high school, the blonde girl watched Terrane walk away. Once he was gone, she took out a communicator marked with an orange and black 'S'. She flipped it open and looked at the masked face of Slade. "I tricked 'em both, Slade. Now what?"

"You have completed your task for now, Mindcheat. Meet me at my hideout for further briefing." With that, Slade shut off his communicator.

Mindcheat, as she was called, nodded. Suddenly, her hair changed into a dazzling red, and her eyes changed to brown. "So it begins," she said ominously. And with that, she disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

_To be continued…_(obviously)

* * *

And that's that. I hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to read my other stories, too! 


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